pictures from the iPhone - magically delicious

I've had the iPhone for a week - and mostly it is great!! I am trying to use as many of the features as I can - and get the bonus of not having to carry around other things like a datebook, camera, mp3 player, etc. So last Friday night when I was test driving the CRV I took my first picture. This is the car that I ended up buying on Saturday morning - well nearly. I had them swap the tires to a slightly better set that were also listed as original equipment and on some of their other stocked CRVs.
I love it!! Not to big, not to small, just right!
And Rebecca is happy because her Focus will still fit in the garage.

Since I have a car - you'd think that I'd be all caught up on my errands - but I am really going pretty slow working through all of my lists. In fact, I haven't even made it to a normal grocery store yet. I bought some food at costco, some odds and ends at Target and then a little more food at Trader Joes - but I just can't bring myself to go to Albertson's or something similar yet - that would mean making a lot of decisions about what I want to eat.

Well - at Costco I found this super yummy Chicken Pad Thai - that is remarkably low in calories - only 230 per serving. Really tasty and easy to microwave together. I separated the 6 servings into small Tupperwares and have enjoyed it for a couple lunch and dinners. :)

At Trader Joe's I bought Cinnamon Puffins (a good cereal) and then my eye got caught by this:

Vanilla Meringues. YUM! TJs used to have lemon meringues - which I would have quickly chosen first. But Laurie bought some vanilla meringues in Paris and they were good - so I decided that I wanted them. Over the last couple of days I have eaten several. I kept having this taste memory - but I couldn't put my finger on it. Today it finally came to me.

Vanilla Meringues from Trader Joe's taste like the marshmallows in Lucky Charms. And since we all know that they are the best bits of that cereal - what a find. A low fat, low calorie magically delicious treat. :)

nearly a week in

I left Swindon about a week ago. I was just talking to April today and she mentioned that she was cleaning her house because the cleaners are coming tomorrow (my mom does the same thing - to make sure that a) she is not embarrassed about the messiness and b) to ensure that the cleaning that she is paying for is deep cleaning). April reminded me that I was there helping her last week - and that we left for the airport just as the cleaners arrived last Wednesday morning.

So I guess it has been a week. I've done a lot. Got moved back into my house on Saturday. After 3 nights Pip seems to be settling in much better. On Saturday morning before heading out to my house I bought a car - a new Honda CRV. It is white. I love it. It is not quite what I thought I'd end up with - but I think that it is better. I'll post a picture soon.

I also am completely in love with my iPhone. Having the internet so handy is phenomenal! I actually purchased auto insurance while sitting waiting for my new car to get detailed - amazing. My land line (yes - I still opt to have a land line and a mobile) gets installed on Friday.

Tonight my roomate and I joined the local park & recreation center in Hillsboro - it is quite a nice facility that was re-opened just before I moved away. It has 3 pools, a nice gym and several rooms for classes. We bought a pass for 3-months - just to make sure that we go regularly before committing to more. Tonight we did a spinning class - my first. I haven't been on a bicycle in a long time (they are not my favorite). It was a good workout though. I think that we'll probably try to do it once a week and do water aerobics twice a week. I might do some training in the gym as well. Adding regular walks for Pip and I should be back to "normal" size in no time.

I am adjusting - but I am still referring to Swindon as home. I just need to be patient with myself. I am so happy to be back - I just have to get used to it.

4/5 home - or more

It is 6:30pm in San Francisco - I woke up this morning in April's guest bedroom at 6:30am. Right now it is 2:30am in Swindon. My flight to Portland doesn't leave for 4 more hours - so I'll land in PDX at like 12:15am. Which will be a more than 32 hour day. I'll make it.

I am really excited to get home - maybe just to be finished with the traveling. This whole move is still so surreal. I am not sure that I can get my head around this being more than a visit home. My # of bags in customs should have been a trigger to my brain. I'm not sure when it will hit me though. Tonight when I see Pippin and mom and dad? This weekend when I move back into my house? When I buy a car (hopefully soon). After I do some shopping? Once the US feels expensive to me? It will all happen - it is just a matter of when.

Last Weekend in Swindon - check

On Friday I worked in the morning and had movers scheduled to arrive between 12-2pm. April and I were planning to head into London (where we had booked a hotel) in the evening - maybe by 5 or 6 depending on when my moving was done. I sat at my house from 11:45 until 2 - no movers. They rang at about 2:05 saying they were running late and would be another 40 minutes and asked if that was ok (like I had another choice and could say - just don't bother coming...whatever). They actually didn't arrive until 3:30. So plans were a changin'. I called April to discuss the possibility of canceling the hotel and just doing a drive into London in the morning. It was our plan B until I found out that it was too late to cancel and get a refund...even though we bought cancellation insurance. This country is just not customer oriented AT ALL! I was Annoyed.

The movers made good progress. Here are a couple snaps of what it was like before, during and after.

They left just after 6 and I quickly threw some things into an overnight bag and drove to April's. We drove through torrential downpours all the way - and we were staying in Southwerk (pronounced Sotherk - who know why they even have a w in the alphabet - they never pronounce it - certainly not mid-word) so I got to drive through London in the dark and the rain. Thank Heaven for TomToms - without one we'd never have made it.

We were SO tired by 9:50 when we arrived that we basically just went to sleep. We had plans of playing Scrabble and talking - but no - sleep won. :)

In the morning we looked out the window and appreciated where we were. You can see the tube lines right next to us (which didn't disturb at all) and in the distance you can see St Paul's dome. :)

The plan for the day was to shop, eat and shop. We were quite successful. We started off at Covent Garden. Split a raisin scone for breakfast and started on the shopping. I bought two posters from the Transit Museum that I am excited to frame and hang in my house. After Covent Garden we walked to Trafalgar Square and St Martin's in the Field so I could show April the cool Cafe in the Crypt there - we nearly decided to do a brass rubbing, but didn't. After a short tube ride - we were in Bayswater - one of my favorite bits of London - right at the top of Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. It isn't the nicest part of the city - but I love this place called Taza with the best kebabs and baklava. Plus, there are cheap pashminas and really cheap touristy souvenirs (that I don't buy) and even a mall that just gets nicer by the day. We started with Kebabs.
April wasn't feeling great - but she still enjoyed her kebab with lamb and chicken.

I opted just for chicken - and it was a fantastic as always!! Unfortunately - it was still raining - so we enjoyed them inside, instead of on a bench in Kensington Gardens - my usual Taza venue.
Ginger was meeting up with us - to return my copy of Princess Bride that she just had introduced Nabeel to. April and I had some time to kill before Ginger would be able to tube to us - so we first went to the pashmina store and then onto the mall - which has a big W on it and is down Queensway road from the Bayswater station if you ever want to find it. (To Kathy and mom who have seen this mall before - it is SO MUCH better now than it was 2 years ago.)

The public toilets are free (and nice) and the mall is packed with great stores. But I think the highlight of the mall for April and I were the chair massages from the Reflexology Clinic. Oh - it was so great! We felt much better - me after 10 minutes and April after 20.

Then we met up with Ginger - enjoyed a fresh squeezed juice (that wasn't cold at all - how odd) and chatted for a long time. Then we tried to go find the Paul (a french bakery) on the Strand - but it wasn't there. It was approaching 6 - so April and I split from Ginger and headed back to the hotel to get the car. On the way out of London - the TomTom must have known that it was my last trip. It directed us straight through the heart of London, giving me one final tour of the highlights. With it though came a lot of traffic - so much that I was able to take a couple of pictures from behind the wheel (while stopped). Here is Trafalgar Square.
And that lit up building on the left up ahead is Harrod's.

We made it back to Swindon by just after 8 - and we were SO tired - again. It was a fun day. I'm glad I got to see London one more time and spend some time with April - even though she didn't feel good. What a trooper.

Today was my last Sunday in the Swindon Ward. At the beginning of the Sharing of Testimonies (since it is Fast Sunday) - Stayson (who was conducting) invited me to come up and bear mine. It was okay - I probably would have anyway. It was a little surreal. Still is.

Since church ended - I sold my car. The couple (from Oxford) got a freaking steal - but had cash and would take the car today - so I went with it. It is good to have it done - I was getting stressed out. So now I am without Car. I'm picking up a rental from Enterprise in the morning to get me through the last couple of days.

It's nearly done. Unbelievable. As Megan (April's daughter) would say - Just 2 more sleeps until I'm home. Well 3 sleeps I hope. I hope that between Heathrow and San Fran I am asleep most of the time. :)

Now I have to decide what to rename my blog to - since I won't be Brit-Ish Bex anymore. Any ideas?

Leaving 'Do' to Die For!

April was kind enough to set up a going away party for me last night. It was a blast!! I had April invite a couple of girls from work: Bethan, Jo and Laurie.
A couple of couples from the ward: Jake & Gresha Carmichael (on the outside) and Stayson and Sarah Taylor (on the inside):
And also invited were Cheri and Jared Whitehouse. Cheri is a fellow American, but has mastered not only the English accent, but also the cuisine. She volunteered to make a smashing dinner of bangers and mash, yummy white onion gravy and green beans. So so so good!
She also made a treacle pudding - so so so yummy with a little bit of custard.
While enjoying the fabulous food - April had planned a couple of games. The first was a pass the parcel type game - but each person unwrapped an excerpt from my blog and read it and then passed the parcel along. So we got to relive some of my most memorable moments. I can't believe that April read (even just skimmed) my whole blog yesterday in preparation! The second game was a quiz about my time here. It was fun - and just a little embarrassing.

Everyone brought me gifts (which was a huge surprise). They were all things that were to help me remember my time here. I got quite a nice stash and feel better prepared to return home. Here we are at the end of the night (sans Sarah and Stayson who had to get home to relieve a babysitter - and Jared who is taking the picture).
I feel SO lucky to have made such great friends while I've been here! They are all such a blessing in my life and I hope that we will stay in touch - or better yet - that they'll come visit me in the US!!

Thanks everyone!! I'll miss you so much!

Final morning - the Louvre

It was our last morning - we checked out of the hotel without breakfast this time. Here is a picture that I snapped as we were walking across the street to a bakery. :)
We took our bags back to the Gare du Nord lockers and then went to the Louvre.

I really like the Pyramids. And the light on Sunday morning was beautiful.
There was absolutely no line!! Such a different Louvre than my other experiences!! We basically walked right in and just enjoyed. Here you can see the Winged Victory (called Nike in French) atop the mostly empty stair with Ginger and Laurie in the foreground.
And now the Mona Lisa is even farther away from where people can stand. You used to be able to go right up to the wooden barrier. Now you have a much better chance at getting a photo without people - but it is farther away... a toss up on what is better. I posted this pic with Laurie in it to give you some context on size and distance. It really isn't a very large painting. But I think it is quite beautiful.
Just a sampling of some of the gallery flooring.
After taking in all of the paintings in the Denon wing of the Louvre, we headed in the Sully portion to see the Venus de Milo and other sculpture. There was this cool view of an opposing staircase. I like it.

Me and the Venus de Milo (yes, I can see why Shawn Colvin didn't chose to right a song called that - Me and the Mona Lisa just rolls off the tongue better. If you don't know the song - look it up - it is great!)
This is a funny sculpture - I imagine the little boy is saying "and I will love you and pet you and call you George." Doesn't the goose look like he is loving it?
After the Louvre we split up. Ginger headed back to Monmartre to buy some art and Laurie and I went to the Champs Elysees. I wanted to buy some macaroons for April. We'd meet up with Gin at the train station in time to make the train home.

On our way out of the Louvre we stopped in the gift shop. Does anyone want a life size replica of the Venus de Milo?
We also stopped at the Starbucks. There is a metro entrance right down in the Louvre itself - or in a big annex that they built...basically a big mall. So Laurie enjoyed her iced caramel macchiato and we took some photos of the inverted pyramid in the middle of the mall - the metro entrance is just to the right. We hopped on and headed to the FDR stop right in the middle of the Champs Elysees.

From which we walked up a block and went back into the magical pastry yumminess of L'Aduree and bought these lemon, lime, orange blossom and coconut mini macaroons. Yum-O!
We had plenty of time to kill, so Laurie and I found a bench where we could rest our sore feet. We just sat and watched the world go by for a while. We saw lots of these cart cars. Weird! I have no idea what the occasion was - but there was a man on the other side of the bench with his son and the sports cars spurred a nice conversation. He assured me that it was not normal. We chatted in French for 20 minutes or so - and mostly my French held up. But even more fascinating was that I noticed that he had an extra finger protruding from his pinkie on his right hand. I wish I took a picture - but I met the 6-fingered man. If only I could translate "Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." into French on the fly - I couldn't. Laurie will vouch for the 6th finger though - she saw it too!

It started to rain (just so very lightly) so we walked across the street to browse some shops. It is just impossible to pass up the photo opp in the middle of the Champs Elysees. That is the Arc de Triomphe in the background.
It was time to use our last metro ticket and go back to the train station. Just a quick tidbit of advice. The cheapest way to travel on the metro in Paris is to buy a "carnet" of 10 tickets. You'd have to take more than 15 journeys in a day to make the day pass worthwhile. We metro'd a lot in our 3 days (with the back and forth to store luggage at the station) and we each used a total of 13. WAY cheaper than tubing in London - where the cheapest is either an Oyster Card (which you top up and have a maximum outlay each day) or a daily travel card. Only 3 or so journeys pay for the daily pass...that is not because the daily pass is cheap - but because the individual journeys are super expensive!!
The train back was pretty uneventful (except for a newlywed British couple that fought nearly the whole trip). The plan was to go to Bayswater to eat kebabs at Taza (my favorite kebabs in London) and head back to Swindon. We were also able to meet Ginger's boyfriend, Nabeel. They are cute. :)

It was a great last trip. I love Paris! I have loved it each time. This trip was special though - I was pretty awake - no long plane trip to get there. And it was sunny the whole time!! That is a first. I am glad that I got the chance to see it again before heading back to America.

Paris Day 2 - Musee D'Orsay, Eiffel Tower and more

After a good night of sleep we woke up refreshed on Saturday morning. We went downstairs to a pretty lackluster breakfast and then had a brief scare when Ginger couldn't find her credit cards. Once that was taken care of we walked up the street to the Pere Lachaise Cemetery. It is the biggest cemetery in Paris and has a lot of people buried there - some that you'll recognize. It was a beautiful morning.

We did seek out Chopin's tomb and it was pretty. That is Erato - the muse of lyric poetry - sitting atop the memorial.
We couldn't find Jim Morrison and we didn't set out across the cemetery to see Oscar Wilde - but you can see pictures of their grave/tomb on wiki.

After about 45 minutes or so we left the cemetery and got on the metro. We got of at Tuileries and walked across the garden and then the river to get to the Musee D'Orsay. It is a foot bridge and is really beautiful - as is the museum seen here from across the Seine. You can see was a gorgeous day it was going to be. I love the Musee D'Orsay - as much for the venue as the art inside. Here is one of my favorites (you'll recognize it from a picture that sits on the blog sidebar from 2 years ago). It is Degas' Blue Dancers.
There is also a lot of Money (pre and post waterlilies). Laurie and I posed in front in front of this Money (which I really like - but also seemed appropriate). I can't remember what the common English title for the painting is, but the French one directly translates to London, Parliament, Sun through a gap in the fog. We are oh so familiar with that site and weather. :)
Here is Laurie and Ginger looking happy on the 3rd floor catwalk - it transverses the cavern of the train station.
Having spend the morning enjoying art - we were feeling peckish. I though back and remembers a crepe restaurant in the St Germain de Pres quarter - which I didn't think would be too far a walk. It really wasn't - and I appreciated Laurie and Ginger going with my memory. We did find a creperie (not the one I meant). The ambiance was great. We were seated in the empty upstairs. We were happy to be away from the smoke an amongst the purple velvet booths and Americana on the walls. Some of the great pictures on the wall behind my head were Flipper & Magnum P.I. Also notable were Charlie's Angels, Mr T and many tributes to JFK. It was fun and the food was gorgeous.
We continued our walk in SGdP and saw the St Sulpice Cathedral (of DaVinci Code fame - where the Rose Line is) and then continued (with a brief diversion the wrong way) to the Luxumbourg Garden. The gardens were full of people - but also benches. Ginger marveled all over Paris at the plethora of public seating - this is something that there is a real shortage of in London. We claimed a bench and just chatted, soaking in the atmosphere, for like an hour. Here is a picture of some children playing with a rented sail boat in the central fountain.
At this point we had ticked off everything on our list (and then some) that was planned for the day. We just had the Louvre planned for Sunday before the train. So we decided to brave the queues at the Eiffel Tower. We were in the sun in line for about 1 hour to get tickets - this mister was a nice gesture - but the mist really evaporated before helping much.
After getting tickets, it was another 45 minutes (not in a line, but a squished mob) to get on the elevator to the 2nd floor. Then happily the elevator to the 3rd (top) floor was available straight away.
I think that we all enjoyed being on the tower. The top floor was super crowded, but the weather was nice so we could see a lot. I think that the pictures generally turn out better from the 2nd floor - or at least you can identify more from that level. The shot above is from the 2nd floor pointing basically straight up. This was the 17th attempt and the best shot of the 3 of us.

Laurie and I got a little goofy - but in the shot below I am presenting the Sacre Couer sitting atop Monmartre. It is amazing - on the second floor you can still make out the hill, and the Sacre Coeur pokes out...on the 3rd floor the city looks absolutely flat.
We got off the final elevator about 3 hours after we got in line at the Eiffel Tower - it was nearly 8pm. We walked across the river (Laurie and I shared a nice crepe with chocolate and coconut on the way). We took some pictures from the famous viewpoint of the Trocadero.

After that we headed to the Rue Rivoli (back by the Louvre) to try to find more art for Ginger - but everything was closed up. We did buy blister plasters in a pharmacy - that heaven. Gin and Laurie had kebabs and I ate their french fries and we made it home by 11. Ready for bed and then our last day in Paris.

Paris - Day of Arrival - last Friday

We had a day - it actually started the night before...

Laurie and I left almost directly from work - I needed to go home and double check that my oven was off, and Laurie needed to pick up her train ticket. Both critical errands. By just after 6pm we were headed to London. We arrived at the Hounslow West station to park the car with no incident (although my dad did warn me to be careful with my tires). We had to wait for like 20 minutes for the tube - it was crazy. We stopped at Victoria Station to grab dinner and got to Ginger's at 8:30 - but Gin wasn't there. When Ginger arrived we were all so chatty that we didn't get to sleep until after midnight - and our planned route started with catching a bus at 4:18...so we knew that it wouldn't just be a day - it would be a LONG day in Paris.
We got up and made the bus, but it was way overcrowded with people heading either to work or out of town (we shared the bus with quite a lot of luggage). When we finally reached our stop to change buses we were about 15 minutes too late - so we caught a cab - a black taxi in London - my first (and most likely only). The driver was nice and got us there in time and the fare wasn't too extravagant - 12 pounds. Here is the cab driving away from us at St Pancras station where we'd hop on the EuroRail for a couple of hours - wind our watches forward to continental time and enjoy our weekend away in Paris!! I know that I was ready.
We got in at 9:30 - early enough to have a full day, but too early to check into the hotel. We locked our bags away in a giant locker (so convenient!!) at the Gare du Nord and jumped on the metro to Montmartre - just a few stops away. We walked out of the stinky metro station and were directly in front of the Moulin Rouge. We took a lovely walk through Montmartre - passed the cemetery and then up the hill toward the Place du Tetre and the Sacre Coeur.

Once we reached the top of the hill, it was time for some mid-morning refreshment...the apple I ate on the train wasn't quite enough sustenance for the day. Plus it was Paris - bring on the Pain au Chocolat!!
We wandered through all of the artists in the Place de Tetre and Laurie and I got caught by a guy that cut paper silhouettes - Laurie ended up with one and a photo. He was keen to have us stay in Paris - we left in a hurry.
Ginger found some art that she liked but opted to hold off until we saw more of what Paris had to offer. We made it away from the artists to the main attraction in Monmartre (at least for me) - the Sacre Coeur.
The Sacre Coeur sits on a hill looking over Paris. Each time I've been there I've taken this picture - which is just the heads of who I am with - blocking out the view. It was still a little gray and hazy, but we were hoping the weather would improve.
We headed down the hill and enjoyed the view both ways. Apparently we lingered a bit too long and looked a little too friendly, because we got fingered as American suckers by a group of Kenyans that wanted to talk to us about Hakuna Matata and good Tiki Tiki while they wove these bracelets - which they then charge us for. We all felt taken - but really didn't know how we could have gotten out of it - since we also didn't want to be rude. Here are our good luck bracelets.

We finished Monmartre and picked up our luggage and checked into the hotel - which was across town between the Marais (the Jewish Quarter) and the Pere LaChaise cemetery. We also stopped into a supermarket and picked up some yummy french candy (Carambar) to bring home to friends. I think the candy just reminded us that it was 1ish and lunchtime. The plan was to go into the Marais and get some felafel - at least that was my plan. The Wall of Fallafel was the place - and I ate there 2 years ago with mom and Kath and Suz. The food was great both times!!
After a wander through the Marais including the beautiful Place des Voges (the first square in Paris) we headed to the islands - Notre Dame and a Bateaux Mouche. Notre Dame was beautiful - no scaffolding at all and very very clean looking. I guess coming 2 weeks before the Pope's visit has it's perks.

We walked all the way up the Ile de la Cite to the Pont Neuf and climbed onto a boat for a 1 hour cruise up the Seine and back. I love the Seine!! It is lined with trees and just one beautiful scene after the next.
It also supplied the first full glimpse of the Eiffel Tower - notice how blue the sky was getting. It was a sign of things to come. Since the 3 of us live in gloomy old England - we were just soaking it up - along with lots of Parisian men sunbathing on the stone covered island coastline - in Speedos nonetheless.
The boat also goes along the back of Notre Dame - which is so beautiful and rarely featured in pictures. We didn't make it to the park back there this time - I would highly recommend it though.

After the cruise we metro'd to the top of the Champs Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe.
And wandered down the Champs to the best pastry shop in the whole of Paris - L'Aduree. We picked up some super yummy mini macaroons. There is apparently another shop in Harrods in London - I haven't found it yet - and since I am leaving in a week I probably won't. But look for it - it is worth it. The best are the lime or the coconut.
It was a gorgeous day and we just decided to grab dinner at Monoprix (a great Parisian supermarket) and meander down the street all the way to the Obelisk in the Place de la Concorde, then onto the Tuilleries Gardens and all the way to the Pyramids at the Louvre.
It is cool how all of the monuments line up - and the sunset was fantastic!
But we were pooped. So we called it a day and took the metro back to the hotel. We got so much done and didn't feel rushed at all - so we didn't feel any pressure at all to wake up super early - but planned to walk up the street to the Pere LaChaise and then spend the rest of the morning at the Musee D'Orsay - the rest of the day would just sort its self out.